segunda-feira, 31 de maio de 2010

This is my cheap plastic palette bought at an art store for less than €1 (or less than USD1.35448 or less than GBP0.89789 or less than CAD1.38316 or...). Some of the bases are painted already. Note that the paint is highly thinned with water and Windex, what I really want is to tint the sand, not paint it out entirely.

So here is the difference between a painted (left) and a painted and drybrushed (right) base. For drybrushing I use a somewhat old brush that had already lost its tip, so I cut most of the hair off square. It became of course much stiffer, which is what I wanted. Remember that dry brushing means dry. After you dip your brush in the paint you have to wear most of the paint off elsewhere in a scrap of paper before using it on your model. Always, always bear in mind: better two gentle coats than one thick one.

You'll see there are some spots where the sand did not stick. That's not critical, you can always flock those bald spots over later

Leaving the bases alone for the time being, it's time to look at the vehicles. I had purchased this lot a couple of years ago already painted, but with basic colours only, so in order to make them a bit more presentable I wanted to add some shades and highlights. I was thinking of using my trusted Vallejo acrylics, but the shade colour I was thinking of when I thinned it with water proved to be too grainy for my taste, the pigment could be ground finer. So setting it aside I took this Miguel Jimenez ready (or almost) wash I had once bought on a whim.

Humbrol pigments are guaranteedly fine but I had stopped using them for acrylics a few years ago already. Anyway, this MIG ( http://www.ww2talk.com/forum/www.migproductions.com ) product it was, and I needed a can of synthetic paint thinner, as even if this is theoretically ready to be used straight from the flask I wanted to thin it rather more.

sábado, 29 de maio de 2010

As I was thinking of rebasing my 1:300 troops I decided to do it properly this time. My bases usually have quite a drab look, rather ugly as a matter of fact. The best I did I used a product called Basetex which is sand aglutinated with water based paint in a selection of colours, but anyway I thought I could do better.

As I’m not smart enough to reinvent the whel I looked up my bookmarks list and I found these sources of inspiration:

To start somewhere, I decided to make up what will grow with time tobea 1944 Pz.Division. The wargame rules I'm using call for a representation scale of 1:5. I'll be doing my troops at paper strength which may well be an exageration, actual scenarios will call for rather less. Most material in the pics will be Heroics & Ros.

So I had already painted the tank component of my Pz.IV battalion.

In the meantime I dug up my vehicle park. I had recently done a house move so it is all in a jumble. This is the Big German Mess as I took it after transport, shades of Falaise. The Russians are in not much better shape.

So this is my immediate objective: completing and basing the Pz.Regiment. At the top left is a Maus by Skytrex, bought in what, early 80s? I'll be doing this for fun!

First of all everything will go for a bubble bath to remove years of dust and grime!

And so the saga continues. 2 dozen 25mm square bases cut from a card sheet I bought in an art store, plus a few deeper ones to acommodate the JagdPanthers and ze Maus.

I have a few bags of several types of sand I caught here and there in construction sites, this one is in a bag supplied by the local council to pick up your dog poo. Isn't a wargamer's life interesting?

Using common white glue, you make sure your base has an even coat covering up to the edge. Easier to do than to say, actually. Then you cover everything with a thick layer of sand and let lie for a few hours.

In the meantime I cleaned up those unpainted models, and took a long hard look at ze Maus to see what could be done to improve a 30+ year old casting.

sexta-feira, 28 de maio de 2010

Character Series nº 2 - Paul Emil von Lettow-Vorbeck

(Part II)

As I mentioned in my previous post, LV became one of the masters of guerrilla warfare. In fact, Ian F.W. Becket (in his Encyclopaedia of Gerrilla Warfare) labels him "one of the most sucessful guerrilla leaders in history".

The term guerrilla derives from military activities during the struggle against French occupying forces in the course of the Peninsular War (1807-1814), and literally means "little war". But in my opinion, LV was more than just a sucessful guerrilla leader, since he did not just become engaged in little wars. When the number of his forces allowed it, he faced regular enemy army units in the field, in set piece battles, with uniform sucess.

One of such instances was the Battle of Tanga.

(The Battle of Tanga)

The word "tanga" has a funny double meaning in Portuguese. Over here in Portugal we feel that the politicians are set to give all of us a lot of "tanga", that can be roughly translated as hoodwinking.

But "tanga" was what I can say LV gave the British army, in early November 1914.

The first shots of WWI in German East Africa were fired on the 8th August 1914, by two English light cruisers. They fired at the wireless tower extant at Dar-es-Salam (the Capital) trying to bring her down. They missed every shot, since the tower came out unscathed from the encounter. Faulty gunpowder, maybe...

LV had ordered combat patrols to enter the British territory (British East Africa, modern day Kenya) situated to the north of German East Africa, and operate against the Uganda and Magad Railway. This was the main supply artery of the region, with a length of about 440 miles, wich offered multiple opportunities for disruption of traffic to a bad intentioned opponent - as LV set himself to be. These attacks or at least threat of attacks were sure to draw the attention of large numbers of enemy troops, needed to protect it.

Do not forget that since this guy wanted to "grip the enemy by the throat", the Uganda Railway was very importante strategic objective - and LV readily identified it as such.

And because of that, on 2 November 1914 the British army came knocking at his door, with two cruisers and fourteen transport ships. More precisely, they knocked at the door of the coast city of Tanga, situated about 80 kilometers from the northern border with British East Africa. The landing of the British troops started on 3 November. Our Character ordered the general alarm to be sounded throughout the Colony, since he had only two Askari companies in the neighbourhood. As the fighting began, he kept directing troops to it, as they arrived. This operation was only possible due to the improvised but very efficient supply and transport system they had meanwhile organized - something I think only a German organization could have pulled off at the time.

Our hero considered that the British troops were clumsy to move and were more clumsily led in battle, but he sometimes faced odds of 20 to 1. The number of his Askari troops was a little over 1.000, arriving piecemeal, while the enemy landed between 6.000 to 8.000 soldiers.

On the other hand, LV's troops were raw and had never seen combat before. They several times wavered in combat in a most dangerous way. Do you know what this guy did at such times ? He and other German officers got to the front line, standing and laughing, taunting the Askaris for being afraid of the enemy bullets and enemy numbers. But this way he got what he wanted from them. When ordered to charge with the bayonet, they did it with a vengeance.

And then it was time for the British colonial troops to take to their heels!

The battle was over by 5 November. The British suffered a thorough beating and were forced to retreat in haste back to their transport ships, leaving in the field a lot of weapons and supplies, besides large numbers of dead and wounded soldiers. Those supplies the Germans endeavoured to put to good use, since they were short on every war materiel.

In his book, LV estimates the enemy casualties in the thousands, while his were a little over one hundred. It was noted that the German medical staff treated equally well all casualties, regardless of nationality, and many wounded were set free on parole (a solemn oath given not to fight again in the war) - this gentlemanlike aproach to war became an LV trademark, and assured him many friends among the British after it ended.

This reaction on the German side must have been an unpleasant surprise to the British command, but our Character knew better than to think the determination of this particular enemy might decrease or be affected by it. He knew full well that the British were tough and resilient and started to prepare the follow up. As you can see, at this stage he was still planning and conducting regular military operations, since the number of troops and resources at his disposal allowed it.

But he also knew that this situation could not last for long - and you will also know more about it next Friday.

sexta-feira, 21 de maio de 2010

Character Series nº 2 - Paul Emil von Lettow-Vorbeck

(Part I)

Heavens be praised - it is Friday! But this is a moment of joy mostly because it is time for another post of this fantastic Character Series. In fact, I am sure this is the moment you have all been waiting for.

One of you (the only one that bothers to read these posts to the end?) tried his best to guess who the next Character would be, but he simply could not manage it. My bet is that none of you had ever seen the name of this guy before. Am I correct ?

JMM: good try! But I think my Mongol army will have another chance to thoroughly kick your Roman army ass once again in the field of battle. By the way, his name starts with a "P" and not a "V", after all - it was just a (dis)honest mistake; there are two "Vs" in there anyway...

I first came across the story of this fine German fellow when I was browsing through the Portuguese campaigns in Africa, during World War I. My curiosity was awakened, so to speak, when I read that he kicked some Portuguese ass in Northern Mozambique at that time, while greatly outnumbered. I thought to myself: here is another German guy that messed up our national pride during WW I. Right when I was about to lose any interest in him, I noticed that even before he arrived in Mozambique, he had also made some serious ass kicking among the British and the Belgian armies in and around German East Africa (modern day Tanzania). Then I thought to myself: here is a guy worth knowing more about!

And this is how I came across the book "My Reminiscences of East Africa", written by the man himself, from now on referred as LV.

(Background)

LV arrived in Dar-es-Salam, in January 1914. In his pocket he had a nomination as commander of the Schutztruppe (protection force) extant in the Colony of German East Africa, effective 13 April 1914.

(Askari Company, German East Africa, 1914)

He had not a very formidable force at his disposal, mind you. At the outbreak of the war he had 216 European, 2.154 Askaris (African soldiers) and 45 European police officers, who were the (more or less) regular troops. Eventually he reached the number of 3.000 Europeans and 11.000 Askaris in the ranks.

LV was no stranger to combat, at the time he arrived to serve in his new post. He had seen action in China (Boxer Rebellion) and in German South-West Africa (modern day Namibia). Unlike our last and more famous Character, LV did not have the benefit of a "golden cradle" - on the contrary. Born in 20 March 1870 in Pomerania, Germany, LV seemed to be destined to serve in the army. I even think he did not have much of a choice in the matter, since he was dispatched from an early age to boarding schools and later on to the corps of cadets in Potsdam - this is what happens when your parents do not want to put up with you.

German East Africa was very near the end of the world, as far as Germany was concerned. Because of that and when confronted with the beginning of WW I, LV knew he could expect scarce (if any) supplies or reinforcements. Therefore this guy assessed his situation and outlined his strategic objectives as follows:

a) The decision of the war and the fate of the German colonies was sure to be decided on the battlefields of Europe;

b) Himself and every Germand subject, regardless of his geographic location, had the obligation to contribute his share to acheive a result in this war favourable to Germany;

c) Placed in a subsidiary theatre of this war, he considered his duty, with the small forces at his disposal, to prevent as many enemy troops as possible to be used in the E.T.O. (that means European Theatre of Operations, you uncultured people out there);

d) At the same time, to inflict on the enemy the greatest possible losses, in men and materiel.

And how do you suppose he planned to acheive these apparently simple objectives ? Find out yourselves, by reading his own words: "it was necessary not to split our small available forces in local defence, but on the contrary, to keep them together, to grip the enemy by the throat and force him to employ his forces in self-defence".

Looking at this objectives outline, two words spring to mind: Guerrilla Warfare. LV became, as many think, one the most sucessfull practicioners of this kind to combat, in recorded history.

And remember this: he was a regular German army officer, raised in the Prussian military tradition. His decision was opposed, from the start, by the civil authorities of the Colony. He overcame that oposition without alienating their support - no mean feat by itself.

Stick around, and you will find out more about this guy in my next post.

sexta-feira, 14 de maio de 2010

Our hero arrived in Sudan just in time to take part in the decisive phase of the campaign, from early August to September - and just in time to earn his much coveted medals.

WC was assigned to A squadron, 21st Lancers. That unit left Cairo to Sudan on 3 August. As his weapon, he chose to use a non-regulation Mauser semi-automatic pistol (with a 7.63 calibre and a ten-round magazine), that was very effective at close range (he called it "ripper"). Due to an accident in India, WC's right arm could not handle a sword or a lance.

After a more or less leisurely march of about 1.400 miles under the pleasant African sun, the British and allied Egyptian armies (all 22.000 of them) finally met the army of the Khalifa (of about 52.000) on the 2 September 1898, at the killing field of Omdurman.

Early in the battle, the 21st (440 strong) was involved in a desperate but ultimately sucessfull fight with a concealed Dervish unit (of about 2.600 men), that was later the cause for the award of 3 Victoria Crosses and 7 Distinguished Services Medals to members of the 21st Lancers. This was also the time when WC used his "ripper" to good effect, although I think the Dervishes might desagree with me regarding the use of the adjective "good".

Once again, our Character behaved his usual self in combat: indifferent to danger and coolheaded, while actively seeking to distinguish himself in action. As you all know, this battle was a resounding sucess for the British and the Egyptian allied armies. They suffered about 500 casualties, while the Dervish army had about 26.000 casualties (dead and wounded) with more or less 5.000 prisoners.

WC's already typical arrogant attitude surfaced when he said of Kitchener: "He is a great general but he has yet to be accused of being a gentleman", regarding his rough treatment of prisoners and other random atrocities. Naturally, this kind of attitude did not favour him with him commanding officer.

He got two medals from this adventure in Sudan, besides the (much sought) personal publicity derived from his letters about the campaign, published by the Morning Post. In December 1898 he was back in Bagalore, after a "vacation" of about six months.

(Conclusion)

By 1898 WC was 24 years old and had already seen war in 3 Continents. After this he had a very colourful participation in the South African War and later on also participated in World War I - where the German steel marked the end of the association of glamour to war - at least in the British imaginary.

D.H. Russel said it best, when he concluded that WC had that "optimistic, invencible attitude typical of the young Victorian-era officer". In this our hero was not different from the many hot-headed youths that through the ages were born within powerful Empires and were determined to make a name for themselves and achieve a powerful political and/or social position by demonstrating their mettle in battle - we can see this at least from the Roman Empire onwards.

We all know the role WC played in WWII, as the leader of Great Britain. Looking at his personal history we can understand why he managed to inspire his fellow countrymen to fight and resist to the last.

This was a guy that really "walked the walk", as he several times proved, with and without a uniform. Did you know that he wanted to accompany the British fleet on D-Day to the Normandy? Only the personal intervention of the King George VI prevented him from doing it.

That is why, unlike Chamberlain, Hitler did not manage to intimidate him. WC was tougher than him. If this guy said something like "bring'em on!" I am sure nobody would feel inclined to giggle.

I mentioned in my first post WC's aristocratic background. That fact, true enough, cleared a lot of the way for him and gave him easy acess to indispensable and important personal and political connections. But he was also a self-made man - no doubt about it. His ambition, fearlessness and intelligence did it for him.

Do you know a guy in politics nowadays with his pluck?

I do not.

All things considered, there could not be a better Character than Winston Churchill to start this truly wonderful series of military history posts. I cannot but reach that conclusion, taking in consideration the overwhelming number of favourable comments that, from all over the world, arrived at our comment box.

Who will be Character nº 2 (I can almost hear all of you asking, in nervous anticipation) ? Well, all I can tell you is that he is not English. In fact, if any of you guesses his name I am prepared to offer him my brand-new-state-of-the-art Mongol army. Can there be a better challenge than this one ?

All I can say to help is that his name starts with a "V". Sorry for not helping you much more - I like my Mongol army...

sexta-feira, 7 de maio de 2010

Character Series nº 1 - Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill

(Part III)

As a young aristocrat, WC had to mantain a certain status and appearances, at several leves, much to the liking of the Victorian British society. As a Lt in the British army, his pay was somewhat symbolic - for a well born gentleman, that is.

But WC had always two handy solutions for his recurrent financial problems: dear old Mamma and chronic debt - after all, a merchant was almost a sub-human to an aristocrat, and should be more than grateful to be given the privilege of having a social superior as his debtor.

These were the two main resources he used to mantain a life style clearly above his personal means. There are pictures of him with his 5 polo ponies, in India. WC and two of his friends (good old Reginald included) rented a rather large bungalow to live in, where they had more than ten servants at their disposal - noblesse oblige...

(The Frontier War - continuation)

Bangalore, capital of the Mysore state, in India, was to be WC's and the 4th Queen Own Hussars new home for the near future.

At the time the territory included modern day India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Myanmar - all of 1.807.112 square miles of territory covered by about 264.000 soldiers (all ranks included) of the British army, plus 147.000 native troops.

WC got more or less bored of his daily routine and military duties while in cantonment, but nevertheless seemed more than able to cope with all of them and was appreciated by the troopers. He tried again, during this period, to join Kitchener in Sudan, but was refused, more than once.

But his luck stood by him (if you consider this luck...). On July 1897 they had a major uprising of Muslim tribesmen on the North-West Frontier of India, along the border of Afghanistan. That was not his cantonment area, but he sucessfully managed to obtain permission to visit the war zone, once again as a war correspondent (this time for several newspapers) - but this time he would also prove his mettle in battle.

What was is avoued purpose ? To have "a good chance of seeing active service and securing a medal" - in his own words.

He joined the Malakand Field Force as an extra ADC to General Bindon Blood, in 2 September 1897. On 16 of that same month, WC was with the 2nd Brigade of that Force in the Mohmand valley, where he got himself involved in a major combat action - and a deadly one at that. He remebered it as one of the most dangerous days of his life. And he had more of the same in the following days.

Once more, he acquitted himself well in the field of battle and was favoursly mentioned in several after action reports by superior officers.

In the end, he got from his service in India what he did not expect at first: a medal (the India Medal 1895, army order nº 77, of 11 June 1898). His articles for local and English newspapers were, once again, a source of recognition, within and outside the militay institution.

He also developed other traits of his personality while over there: he became recognized as outspoken, ambitious, egocentric, a medal hunter and a self-advertiser - you tell me if these are qualities or faults, in the man WC proved to be.

(The Sudanese War - Omdurman)

WC simply could not take a "no" for an answer. Since he did not receive an official appointement as he several times requested to the Egyptian army, he decided to go directly to the seat of power (London), while on leave, and personally ask (lobby...) for it.

Possibly he was afraid they could run out of Dervishes to shoot, at any moment.

His efforts paid off. In 2 August 1898 WC arrived in Cairo (Egypt) with a nomination as a supranumerary Lt to the 21st Lancers. By the way, his appointment mentioned that he had to travel at his own expense and in case of his injury or death no charge of any kind would fall on the British army funds. It had taken him two years to secure this appointment and he was not going to let such trivialities to stand in his way or deter him.

As usual, his mind was also on pratical things. He made arrangments with the Morning Post newspaper, to send letters about the campaign (also as usual, in exchange for some £).

OK, now I have to stop here, or else my boss will start complaining.

In my next post I'll let you know about the effects of WC's Mauser automatic pistol on the poor old Dervishes.